When spring arrives early in Chicago and coincides with St. Patrick’s Day, one color dominates my focus: green. And when I think of someone who can describe the mood and feeling of green in his own jazzy, poetic way, I think of Ken Nordine.

Combine guitar players from early versions of both Genesis and Yes and you get one of the 80’s greatest supergroups – GTR. The band features Yes’ Steve Howe and former Genesis guitar player Steve Hackett. Being the guitar nerd that I was, I saw this band play Chicago’s Riviera Theater with couple buddies in the summer of 1986 and it was one of my earliest and favorite concert memories. “The Hunter” is probably my favorite song off that album and has a haunting bassline combined with a dated 1980’s sound. This is good ol’ classic rock at its finest. I hope you have a great weekend and enjoy…

I don’t know a whole lot about Jonathan Coulton, but I was recently sucked into a video for the song “Shop Vac.” Not knowing whether this was a commercial or song, my curiosity told me to investigate a little closer. One view of this video, I was entertained by the typography animation and the catchy-ness of the song, itself. I was also very amused. I hope you will be too as you watch this and feel free to check out his site for more musical mischief…

You might be familiar with Mavis Staples from her work with the amazing gospel/soul group, The Staples Singers and Jeff Tweedy from indie band Wilco. They have collaborated on a new album (not an affiliate link) and one of the results is a cover tune of Creedence Clearwater Revival. This is a stripped-down acoustic version and I love every moment of this song. It makes me want to drag out my acoustic and get practicing. Thanks to my friend Chuck for turning me onto this song…I hope you enjoy and have a great weekend!

Back in the early 2000’s, one of my favorite television shows was NBC’s Ed, which was about a recently divorced lawyer (played by Tom Cavanagh), who leaves the big city of New York for the small town of Stuckeyville. Once there, he buys a bowling alley and establishes a law practice. Each episode dealt with a case that Ed took on and many episodes featured a whimsical $10 bet between Ed and his best friend Mike. Here’s an example:

It’s a crime that this show isn’t on DVD, but I know this has to do with music licensing issues since the episodes featured some great musical performances interwoven into the storyline. Besides Cavanagh, the show featured many notable actors in their first major roles including Julie Bowen, Micheal Ian Black, Justin Long and Ginnifer Goodwin. I also seem to recall a website inspired by these $10 bets, which I could not find for this post. For more on Ed, click the Ed Wikipedia page. Have a great weekend!

This video is not new, but it’s probably the best example of an unlikely friendship that I’ve seen and one of my all-time YouTube favorites. It serves as a great reminder that we can find friendship in many shapes, sizes and places. Enjoy the rest of the weekend…